Renegade (a HTTYD runaway story)

chapter 1

Hiccup:

Why am I doing this?, Hiccup asked himself as he walked into the arena. The villagers who once hated his guts are now cheering him on. His father sat upon his throne, proud of his son for ranking first in dragon training. Hiccup knew that he was going to do something that would not only make his father disappointed in him again but would also be on the verge of heresy. But he needed to try. He needed to convince Vikings that dragons are not the devils they all believed them to be. As he looked at the assorted weapons, he thought to himself, 'weeks ago. I'd dream of this. However, I am not the Viking I once was... was I even a Viking?' Hiccup had no idea. He picked up a shield and grabbed a dagger. After all, he wasn't going to kill the dragon. He took a deep breath and said softly yet confidently, "I'm ready." The gate seemed to open at such a grueling speed. As the excitement increased around him, the anticipation of the trial before him rose. He knew what he needed to do, but it was a manner of the people listening. Would they accept that dragons are not evil devils? He didn't know. All he knew was that he had to try something.

BANG! The gate swung open as the monstrous nightmare lept out covered in fire. It had a hungry gleam in his eye as if ravenous. 'Do they feed the dragons?' Hiccup thought. If he were in a different scenario, he would have laughed. Here he was, in the arena, expected to kill a dragon, and he is thinking about it's well being. The nightmare jumped onto the arena's chains and crawled around like a spider looking for the fly on its web. It sent a gout of fire at the spectators who just moved out of the way and laughed. Suddenly, the dragon stopped right above Hiccup. It sniffed the air and looked down at him, then slowly lowered itself. It fell with a light thud on the arena floor. All went silent as the Viking runt, and the mighty dragon stared each other down.

The first step, gain its trust, Hiccup thought as the dragon advanced. He dropped his shield and dagger, holding his hands out in front of him. "What's he doing?" He heard his father ask in a low voice.

Stoick:

Is he going to snap the dragon's neck with his bare hands? I'm so proud of him, Stoick thought. He felt he and his son finally had something in common. He was ready to see a fight that songs would be written about. He had no idea what his son was planning.

Hiccup:

Hiccup grabbed the helmet he was wearing and stared at it for a few seconds. His father gave it to him when he heard of his 'success' in the ring. It was half his mother's breastplate, or at least that's what Stoick said. It was a gift, from a proud father to a disappointment of a son. Hiccup knew he didn't deserve the title of 'Viking,' but neither do the Vikings deserve him if they won't listen.

He looked up at his father. From pride now came curiosity. He knew he was probably thinking, why is he holding his helmet? Is he going to stab the dragon with it? He could just see the gears trying to turn in his father's head. Hiccup looked straight into the dragon's eyes, his face set. He knew what he must do. "I'm not one of them," he said calmly and threw his helmet to the side. The nightmare's face grew relaxed. His eyes beheld the small Viking with wonder.

Meanwhile, the arena erupted with frantic whispers. What did he say?

Why did he discard his helmet?

What's he thinking?

Stoick's voice range above all the whispers, "stop the fight."

"NO!" Hiccup yelled, "I need you all to see this. They are not what we think they are. We don't need to kill them". He was about to tame the dragon in front of these Vikings' very eyes. They were just about to touch when Stoick screamed, "I SAID STOP THE FIGHT!" and banged his hammer on the arena's metal. The sound was intensely sharp to the dragon's ears and was enough to put it on defense once again.